Poll: Utah only 4th most conservative state

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Utah may fancy itself as the reddest state in the union, but it in actuality, it's only the fourth most conservative, according to a new Gallup poll.

When polled, 48 percent of Utahns identified themselves as conservative. Four states clocked in as more conservative  Alabama was tops, followed by a tie between North Dakota and Wyoming, and Mississippi in third.

Landing in the top five isn't much of a surprise for Utah, which frequently offers the Republican presidential candidate his highest margin of victory and where GOP officeholders dominate elected bodies.

However, the poll results don't necessarily follow political affiliation. In three Republican strongholds, Kansas, Montana and Alaska, most respondents don't identify as predominantly conservative. And Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas  which came in as heavily conservative in the poll  aren't ranked as the most Republican states, according to a previous poll looking at partisan affiliation.

There was slightly more correlation between Democrats and liberals, with only two states falling outside the pattern: Oregon and Washington, whose residents identify as liberal but not necessarily as Democrats.

In Utah, 62.3 percent of those surveyed in January said they were Republican, while only 48 percent in this poll called themselves conservative. About 60 percent of Utahns are registered Republicans.